


Just another Job

by orphan_account



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-09
Updated: 2012-04-02
Packaged: 2017-11-01 17:17:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/359321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eames hates taking jobs with the military, they are always the same; the Commanders, the work, the soldiers. Until Eames works a job on which he meets Arthur.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Eames hated working with the military. It always meant superior officers, who were used to mindless obedience and didn’t appreciate whimsical questioning, a ridiculous amount of paperwork that seemed completely unnecessary and every single member of the team was always uptight, humourless and determinedly difficult to impress. Everything was regiment and routine, they all had the same sense of humour, the same testosterone filled opinions and the same tight anal retentive contro. But the very worst thing about working with the military, as far as Eames was concerned, was the smug “need to know” crap. Everyone talked in code words, used language such as “covert” and “classified,” they nodded knowingly and handed each other documents that had large sections blacked out.

And it’s not like Eames cared about his security clearance level or anything but it irritated him that they thought he did. His natural contrary response to the oppressive level of control and order was to act even more devil may care than normal. He was flirty and dismissive, he was late and inappropriate and he did everything he could to ruffle those immaculate feathers. But even this grew tiring after a while and the simple truth of the matter was working with the military bored him. 

But needs must. You had to give it to the military, if they employed you to do a job you could guarantee you would be paid, in full and on time and usually there was no need to run for cover if things went wrong. It was a professional transaction between two parties, rarely any need for drama. Which was why, after two jobs that ended with a dispute over payment and one which required yet another new passport, Eames had no choice but to accept the contract offered by the military. The main point of the mission was, as always, to train the recruits in the act of forging, see if they had any talent for it and show them the ways in which it could be useful for their work.

This pretty much summed up his usual work for the military and after the initial challenge of convincing the soldiers that dream sharing could be used for other uses except combat practise, the jobs normally went the same way. Soldiers were amazed by his skill and then utterly unable to replicate it and had very little imagination as to how the skill could be used. Still Eames always got paid and no one seemed too unhappy. He had no reason to suspect that this job would be any different.

As always Eames turned up for his introduction (preliminary briefing they insisted on calling it) half an hour late. As always the Commander in charge of the mission is tight lipped and furiously trying to stop himself from showing how cross he is. But Eames can read it in the way he is standing just a little too upright, in the way his hand is clenched a little too tight around his coffee mug. People sometimes forget that Eames reads people for a living. The soldiers themselves, Eames does a quick scan and sees no one above Captain, are still sitting on their fold out chairs but are now looking surly at the wait. He saunters in, all cocky confidence and sex appeal and smiles charmingly at the Commander and holds out a hand. Seemingly reluctant, the Commander (Eames thinks his name might be Macafferty) shakes his out stretched hand and then directs Eames’ attention to the assembled men. He introduces Eames and Eames turns his grin on the men. He watches the reaction with pleasure, the way his cocky grin fires up their macho need to dominate a room, the way his relaxed posture and clear lack of respect make them all wish they could teach him a lesson and the way his slight leer makes them tighten with the challenge, caught between seeing him as a rival and worrying about him as a threat. There is one exception. Sitting in the back row, looking a few years younger than the other soldiers, is a man (little more than a boy) who does not quite seem the usual military cardboard cut-out. He has the uniform and the haircut but is missing something. He does not have the usual smug cockiness that soldiers have, he does not glare back at Eames, challenging, instead when Eames meets his eyes he looks away quickly, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. Eames looks at him for a moment longer, taking in that he is not only young but pretty and turns back to the Commander.

The “preliminary briefing” goes to form. The Commander explains what Eames is there for and orders his men to afford him every consideration and compliance. This is said with a noticeable tick in his jaw, as if the order is painful to him. The men do not receive it any better. The only man who does not turn to his neighbour and pull a face is the boy at the back. The boy is still looking at him, fascinated since the word forging, until Eames meets his eyes and he looks away again, embarrassed at having been caught looking. Eames grins to himself, there is something about this kid that makes him think that maybe, just maybe, this was not going to be an ordinary, run of the mill, military job.


	2. Chapter 2

There were twelve soldiers altogether that had been chosen for the week’s training with Eames. They were supposedly the ones who had shown the most aptitude in the dreaming sharing missions. Whenever Eames asked how exactly they had shown aptitude he was told it was above his security clearance. They were dull. Boring and beige. Eames knew he would never be able to remember their names so decided not to bother learning them. They were what some people called men’s men, when the Commander wasn’t around they were loud and boisterous, told rude jokes and talked constantly about women they wanted to shag. If he had wanted to, Eames could have joined in and made them love him, but he didn’t want to. 

The one exception was the boy. The boy who, Eames quickly bothered to pick up, was called Arthur. He was quiet and reserved. He didn’t join in with others, was clearly not considered one of them. They did not tease him, which gave Eames a moment’s pause, they simply left him to himself. Eames didn’t make any extra effort to talk to Arthur for that first morning, just made sure he kept one eye on him as he observed the group and talked to them about forging in dreams. It took Eames all of an hour to decide he was desperate to fuck the beautiful boy who was so unlike any soldier Arthur had ever seen.

Eames was given files on all of the soldiers and spent his lunch time actually looking at them for once. Well, he glanced at eleven files before pouring over Arthur’s for any clue about him. Most of the men in this training were at least 25, had a fair amount of field experience and had been stationed around the world. Arthur was only 21, did not seem to have any field experience and had never been stationed anywhere except Washington. Eames wondered how he’d got this gig. Probably not a family connection as his personal file had him listed as an orphan. Possibly found personal favour in some other way then? Certainly worth finding out.

After lunch the Commander hooked Eames up to the PAISV with a nod. Eames always ran his first training session exactly the same way. He went under with the recruits, forged their Commanding officer and waited for them to notice. They never had yet. They were too smug and this group was no different. Even though they had spent the morning listening to Eames talk about forging they never for a moment thought that they could be fooled by it. They imagined that the forgery was for the weak and the stupid, for civilians, and were sure that they could never be fooled into believing a stranger was someone they knew. It was Eames’ favourite moment in military training, the moment they realised that they had been had. It was always especially satisfying when the Commander was a was a hot woman and he watched those testosterone filled homophobes blanch when they saw what they had been ogling.

Unfortunately Macafferty had no such advantage but it was still enjoyable. He looked around at the twelve men, standing to attention, listening to the orders that they was issuing. He walked up and down the line, running his eyes over the men’s uniform and enjoying the way they shifted uncomfortably. His eyes lingered on Arthur and he took a moment to enjoy the fantasy of being this boy’s superior officer and giving him orders. Hearing him reply “yes sir.” Then he raised his gaze from the lean body and met Arthur’s eyes. Arthur who was looking back curiously at him, questioning, moving quickly into knowing. Arthur knew. Someone Arthur had done what no other soldier had ever done and had worked him out. He continued down the line of soldiers and then proceeded a few feet away to look at the men.

He savoured the anticipation for a moment before speaking. “Take your clothes off.”

A couple of the soldiers didn’t even blink, just started taking their clothes off. A few of the others looked at each other a couple of times before they began slowly unbuttoning their uniform. A few others looked furious as they began to remove their clothes. This always happened. Eames always stood as they removed their clothes, and while he might have not appreciated the military dressed he wasn’t above enjoying them with their clothes off, and then issued a series of ridiculous instructions. He didn’t get that far this time, because Arthur was just standing there, smiling. And the smile with the dimples combined with the fact that Arthur was smart enough to see through his forge actually made up for the fact that he didn’t see Arthur naked. There was time for that after all. 

The men next to Arthur looked at him, first with confusion, then annoyance as he failed to follow his Commander’s instructions. Their head’s swivelled to look at Eames, watching for his reaction and for the first time ever Eames spoilt the illusion by grinning. Eames watched with delight as the realisation of his deception spread over the soldiers in their various states of undress. One comically paused on one leg as he was pulling of a shoe, staggering for a moment. 

Eames grinned widened. “You know Corporal, in my history of working with the military, you are the first person to ever work out the forgery so quickly.” And he shook of the forge so he looked like himself again. “How did you know?”

Arthur just shrugged in response, looking suddenly a whole lot less confident. And Eames desperately wished he had the authority to order Arthur to answer him. There was a faint discontented murmuring and Eames was distracted away from Arthur to address the group as a whole. It had worked as it always did. Although the men were annoyed about having been fooled, and normally never quite forgave him, not a man among them was ever left with any doubts about the power of forgery in dreams. And each were filled with the enthusiasm for finding they too had the talent. 

Due to Arthur rumbling him early on, they had longer in the dream now than they would normally have. Normally Eames only revealed himself before the dream was about to collapse. This time Eames directed the men to explore the desert he has brought them too, after they had put their clothes back on of course. It was only natural he told himself that he would take some time to speak to Arthur, he was the only one dressed and the only soldier ever to have worked him out. He strutted over, eyes running up and down Arthur’s body obviously. 

“Well, I have to say, if I wasn’t so impressed I’d be disappointed,” he glanced at the most undressed of the soldiers and then flicked his eyes up and down Arthur again, the implication clear. The blush bloomed across Arthur’s face almost instantly and Eames grinned in response, while wondering why someone so pretty would be so clearly unused to appreciation.

“So, tell me, how did you figure me out so quickly?” Eames drawled, keeping his voice lazy, as if it didn’t matter at all.

Arthur swallowed and looked for a moment like he was considering not answering. “It was when you were walking up and down the line.”

Eames just raised an eyebrow, inviting more detail.

“The Commander’s never looked at me like that,” and Arthur’s voice was tight with false confidence, a pretend assurance with the conversation.

Eames grinned slowly. “And how was I looking at you?”

The blush that was starting to fade was back with full force and Arthur swallowed again. If it hadn’t been for the other eleven, now mostly redressed, soldiers then Eames would have pulled that lean body against his and kissed Arthur for all he was worth. But as he couldn’t he made do with trying to communicate this desire to Arthur through his eyes. He was obviously not doing a bad job because he could see Arthur shift at the implication.

Just as the moment was dragging between them and Arthur would have been forced to say something, the desert began to dissolve around them. 

Eames woke surrounded by men stirring and loudly discussing what had just happened. There was a general eagerness to get on with the training and discover whether any of them could one day do what Eames had just showed them. Eames sought out Arthur with his eyes and noticed that Arthur, who’s cheeks were still pink, was studiously not looking at him. As soon as Arthur’s needle was removed he was out of his seat and on his way out of the warehouse. Eames was tempted to go after him but could not think of any possible reason why he could. Instead he went to feedback his findings to the Commander.

The next stage of the process involved personal interviews with the participants so that Eames can get a feel for each of them. This is normally a dull process but this times Eames finding himself looking forward to it. He wants to get inside Arthur’s head and find out what makes him tick. He schedules Arthur’s interview for last so he has something to look forward to, and so if it goes the way he hopes there’s a chance he can take Arthur out to dinner after.

Eames gets through the other interviews as fast as he can, from what he can tell none of the soldiers have the talent to be able to forge but he makes a show of doing his job, he does want to get paid after all. 

When it comes to Arthur’s turn, Eames watches closely as he approaches the desk where Eames is sitting. Arthur looks wary, hesitant and sits down shifting uncomfortably. He does not look like he has been looking forward to time alone with Eames. Maybe he’d noticed Eames’ interest and did not reciprocate. Maybe he didn’t sleep with men. Eames would have to determine whether he was interested or not before pursuing him. Not that he would necessarily tone down the flirting but it would make him adjust his expectations.

He lent back, sprawling in the chair casually, in sharp contrast to the way Arthur was sitting, back ramrod straight. “I assume Macafferty explained that all my questions are to be answered exactly, without any holding back?”

Arthur nodded, looking more uncomfortable than ever at that prospect. So, Arthur had secrets he didn’t want anyone to know.

“If I feel like you’re omitting details or deliberately deceiving me, I have to report you.”

Arthur nodded again, looking positively frightened now. Eames grinned predatorily, feeling a spike of lust at the way Arthur was squirming. He wondered what it was Arthur was frightened of revealing. After he’d discovered the secrets he’d have to teach Arthur a better poker face, a way to hide himself from people who would use his transparency against him. 

“There are two strands to forging. First, you need to become the person you want to forge. You need to study them, learn them, looks, mannerisms, everything that makes them them and then manipulate yourself in the dream to become that person. Second, you need to be able to hide who you are, suppress what makes you you so that the two personas are not in competition. It’s that second bit that people have the trouble with. Some people manage to create a reasonable impression of someone else, but never learn not to reveal themselves through it. The mark always sees through the deception.”

“Like I did with you?”

Eames grins, he may well like the confident side of Arthur as much as the shy, blushing boy. “Yes, exactly. I wasn’t concentrating on repressing enough of myself, too cock-sure because usually the military never spot the forge, instead of embodying Macafferty, I was thinking about fucking you and I let it show on my, his, face.”

He says it to shock, to watch Arthur’s reaction to explicit interest rather than implied. He is surprised though by quite how shocked Arthur looks. For a moment he is just stunned, before he blushes again and looks away, stammering to reply. Eames rescues him from having to reply, it doesn’t seem proactive to leave Arthur floundering.

“Why did you get into dream sharing?”

Arthur looks back at him, looking relieved at being asked a relatively normal question.

“They asked me, recruited me I guess. Does anyone ever say no? I can’t imagine it.”

Eames nodded in agreement. Arthur had a good point and it seemed succinct. Eames read people for a living though and could see that Arthur was holding something back. He let it go for now.

“So why you?”  
“I don’t understand?”

“Why did they recruit you? You have very little overseas field experience and no obvious connection to anyone in the dream field. So, why you? How did they find you?”

Arthur shrugged. “I’m smart, I scored top of almost everything. And I was able to manipulate dreams with ease.”

“But they didn’t know that until after they recruited you,” Eames pointed out.

Arthur remained silent.

“There’s something you’re not telling me,” Eames said, making his voice stern. He caught Arthur’s eye and held it. “You do remember your orders don’t you? You are to be totally forthcoming with me. I’m going to give you this one chance to tell me whatever it is you’re leaving out before I go to Macafferty.”

It worked. Arthur looked terrified by the threat. It looked like it pained him but he admitted quietly. “I had dreamed before I joined the military. They didn’t recruit me into dreaming, they recruited me into the military because I knew about dreaming.”

Eames was momentarily silence. In all his years working with dreaming he had never heard of anything like that. He wasn’t aware anyone outside of the military had experience with dreaming in America. And it was only those who worked for very wealthy companies in England, who had managed to do a deal with the secret service, which trained people like Eames. Maybe they had started that in America without him knowing, possibly the world was covered with rich businesses currently training dream operatives. But surely Arthur wasn’t old enough to have gotten into dreaming that way. At 21, with three years of training behind him he would have still been at school surely?

“How did someone as young as you manage to get into dreaming outside of the military?”

Arthur looked extremely uncomfortable but had obviously learnt his lesson about holding things back because he replied with what was clearly the truth. “I didn’t always run with a very good crowd. Some people I knew got hold of the necessary equipment and we used to dream.”

“Why?”

“For fun, I guess.”

No obvious lie there. He looked at innocent, stuttering Arthur who blushed every time he was hit on and imagined him hanging out with criminals. It didn’t seem to quite fit.

“How did they manage to get hold of it?” 

No hesitation that time. “My friend’s dad worked for a company who used them. She stole it from her father’s office. He could never report it because the company would have killed him for his carelessness.”

That resonated as more likely with Eames. Not criminals but rich kids with easy access. Arthur had joined the army at eighteen, which meant that for a few years before that he must have been dreaming. Dream training in the army took a lot longer than regular training; there was a lot of testing and work that had to be done before it was deemed safe to allow someone to dream with others. 

“How long did you dream for before joining the army?”

“Two years.”

“It must have been difficult, the year of tests and work before you were allowed to start dreaming, even for a little while?”

“Very.”  
“So two years of dreaming in the army. Why haven’t they moved you abroad? I would have thought you had learnt all you needed to from the experience?”

Arthur shrugged. “Obviously I can only surmise at the answer but my guess would be that the army intend to use dream sharing for other work than training missions. Something that your presence supports. I imagine that they believe I will of more use to them working on those pursuits than blown to pieces abroad.”

Eames nodded, that made sense. And he liked that Arthur questioned the military rather than simply accepting what they told him. So, boy genius, into dreaming as a teenager through a stroke of luck, recruited at eighteen, trained in dreams and then kept safe from active missions so that he could use his ill-gotten experience for the good of his country as the military learnt the true power of dreaming.

“I guess they’re hoping that you’ll show a talent for forging.”

“I guess so.” Arthur was looking quietly confident again. He was at ease talking about dreaming and did not show the usual distaste at Eames’ presence like the majority of soldiers did. He liked Arthur, Eames realised and if he wasn’t interested then Eames would back off and simply be grateful that this time around there was someone whose company he enjoyed.

He leant forward suddenly and grabbed at Arthur’s right wrist, pulling him forward on his seat. Arthur’s whole body tensed for a fight, an instinctive reaction that he managed to control. Eames watched as Arthur visibly forced himself to relax. When he was certain that Arthur was not going to pull away he relaxed his grip and turned Arthur’s hand so it was resting palm up in his hand. Arthur’s hands were smaller than his, smooth and pretty. With his free hand he ran a finger down Arthur’s lifeline. Arthur shifted in his chair and Eames could tell it was a constant battle not to pull away. 

“Everyone’s hands are completely different. The lines, the curves, the fingerprints. Do you think you could learn someone else’s hands, recreate them?” And he ran his finger up across Arthur’s wrist, sliding it down under his cuff. And he could feel the shiver that ran across’ Arthur’s skin. He looked up and saw the blush that was spreading across Arthur’s cheeks again and the way his eyes were dilated with arousal. Interested. Definitely interested. Excellent.

He released Arthur’s wrist and grinned as he moved quickly back into his seat, rubbing his hand across his wrist where Eames had touched him.

“Well, I think that’s all I need for now.”

Arthur nods, looking relieved and starts to stand up.

“What are you doing for dinner tonight?”

Arthur actually freezes half way to standing. “I…erm, we all eat here.”

Eames nodded. “Can I make you a better offer? Take you out to dinner?”

Arthur looks astounded by the offer, as if he hadn’t assumed that Eames’ obvious appreciation would manifest in a date.

“I…no, no thank you,” Arthur stutters before quickly walking away. And Eames is left to stare after him wondering what the hell just happened.


	3. Chapter 3

Back at his hotel restaurant, Eames always refuses to stay on any type of base, Eames enjoys a very well prepared steak and a very nice bottle of wine and analyses what happened earlier. He doesn’t think he misread Arthur’s interest, if he did then he seriously needs to brush up on his skills. But he cannot understand why, if Arthur was interested, he didn’t agree to go out with him. Maybe he thought it was unprofessional? Mixing business with pleasure? Well, Eames thought more cheerily, both of those things were easy enough to overcome. 

He spent the night fanaticizing about Arthur and woke up with a determination to have secured a date by the end of the day.

The problem with this resolution was that a lot of his day was taken up by other people. For at least one day he needed to take time with the group to teach them the mental process of forging and explain to them the plan for the week. Basically they each had to pick someone, study them, their mannerisms and looks and then forge them in the dream the next day. The idea was they told no one who they were choosing so that they could realistically fool people. It never actually came to anything like this as the most that most people could change about themselves was their outfit. Still Eames explained the activity like it was going to be possible.

Eames watched Arthur the entire time he was speaking and observed that while he was studiously taking notes, Arthur did not look at him once. Maybe it was concern for his fellow soldiers, as far as Eames was aware there was no longer allowed to be open homophobia in the military but didn’t mean it was accepted. When he openly flirted with soldiers they often responded with anger or hostility. But then he was older, bigger, stronger and in some sort of position of power, he could see why they were threatened. Arthur on the other hand was young and pretty, he couldn’t see the other men being threatened by Arthur’s sexuality but then you never knew. And these were not people normally stationed together; maybe Arthur was trying to fit in. This didn’t really ring true either, Arthur showed zero interest in being considered one of the boys. 

Slowly throughout the day, the guys began to relax around him. They weren’t friendly to Eames, his lateness again today had guaranteed that, but they did interact with each other fairly normally, at least Eames assumed it was normal. Just before they broke for lunch there was a very boisterous discussion over how you could tell of a woman gave good head or not just by looking at her. Arthur did not give any indication he was listening, just looked over the notes he had taken earlier, and the others made no effort to entice him into the conversation, perhaps having learnt that it was pointless. They did, however, eventually try to draw Eames into the conversation.

“What do you think Mr Eames? Slutty girls or prim and proper?”

And maybe it was a very far-fetched coincidence but at that moment Arthur looked up and seemed to take notice of the conversation. 

Eames smirked, knowing it was grate on all the rest but wanting to see the effect it had on Arthur. “In my experience, girls rarely give good head. They don’t know how to truly please a man because they don’t have a dick. And they can rarely take it hard and fast. You want to get good head then you want to find yourself a guy who really, really wants to suck you.”

There was a moment of stunned silence in which Arthur blushed a deeper red then Eames had yet seen and the other soldiers just looked at him. After a moment though there was a slightly uncomfortable laugh which was then followed by a couple of jovial “I wouldn’t knows.” It didn’t seem like they were particularly affronted by it, certainly not aggressive. It didn’t seem likely then that Arthur was worried about the reaction of his peers. Perhaps Macafferty then. He certainly was not comfortable with Eames talking dirty in the office.

At lunch time Eames left the men to it and went to talk to Macafferty. He offered some vague (untrue) hope about a couple of the men and then steered the conversation around to appropriate relationships. Macafferty looked at him like he had lost his mind and with the directness of a military man he asked “what the hell are you talking about?”

Eames was also not known for his subtlety. “I was just wondering, if you’d have any objection to me taking out one of your fine recruits?”

Macafferty, to his credit, managed not to look stunned by the question. “Mr Eames, as long as you do your job, I don’t care who you’re fucking.”

Eames grinned in response and nodded his thanks. Turning to walk back to where the guys were eating Eames pondered how he was going to let Arthur know that his commanding officer had no problem with him dating (here read going to bed with) Eames. 

He found Arthur eating at a separate table to the rest of the soldiers, reading a book to himself. Eames crept up slowly and sat down on the bench closer to Arthur than was really necessary. Arthur hadn’t jumped so had clearly known he was there but when he looked up and saw how close they were shifted away slightly. 

“What are you reading?”

Arthur looked like he’d really rather not show him but perhaps decided that would cause more of a stir so handed over the book. Eames glanced down at the cover and smiled. “Pride and Prejudice, darling?”

The annoyance that had passed over Arthur’s face when he had read out the book’s title quickly faded into a flush of pleasure at the endearment. Arthur quickly covered it by snatching back the book but Eames had seen it and that was enough. And for some reason the warmth he felt at Arthur’s pleasure seemed more affectionate than lustful. He ignored this though and smiled lazily at Arthur.

“I happen to have it on good authority that your Commanding officer has absolutely no problem with you coming to dinner with me.”

Arthur looked at him like he had lost his mind. “Excuse me.”

“If you were worrying that it was unprofessional to come to dinner with me…”

“I wasn’t,” Arthur interrupted.

“So you’ll have dinner with me?”

“No, I won’t.”

Arthur went to stand and Eames quickly grabbed his arm before he could. “Why won’t you have dinner with me? I assure you I’m good company.”

“I’m just not interested.”

“Yes you are,” Eames replied, his voice serious and low.

And Arthur who had been doing so well in the conversation so far, looked away embarrassed. “You think that highly of yourself Mr Eames? You cannot believe that anyone could resist you?”

Eames grinned at that. “Firstly, you can drop the Mister. Secondly, I do think fairly highly of myself yes but not without reason and I could show you if you gave me a chance and finally, darling, I know you’re interested.”

Arthur opened his mouth, probably to argue with such a pronouncement, but Eames silenced him by reaching down and taking his hand like he had the day before. Today Arthur had his sleeves unbuttoned and Eames ran his fingers up his arms to smooth across the vulnerable skin at his joint. Arthur shivered as before and Eames watched as his eyes filled with obvious arousal. Apparently Arthur had nothing to say and just pulled his arm back and quickly stood and left. Eames watched him go with confusion, clearly Arthur was going to take some seducing.


	4. Chapter 4

After lunch the plan was for Eames to bring them all into his dream and see what they could do forging. It was always complicated bringing this many people into a dream as your sub conscious had to accept so many people. It was unlikely that the dream would last very long. His mind would turn on them before long. 

The architect for the dream was a major in the army and had created a simple warehouse for the dream, not unlike the one they were actually working in. Along the wall were mirrors. In this setting Eames’ sub-conscious had taken the form of military men of various degrees, most of which were going about their jobs, ignoring the new arrivals. When they did look at anyone it was to laugh and fool around. There were no professionals in his dreams of the military. The soldiers took their positions along the line of mirrors and went to work at trying to change their appearance. As the exercise went on Eames’ projections began to take notice of what was happening. They circled closer to the men, glaring at them threateningly. Except the ones who were looking at Arthur. They did not look happy but there was a certain amount of predatory intent in their expressions. Eames quickly inserted himself between Arthur and his sub-conscious.

“If you’re not careful, darling, my mind is going to tear you apart.”

Arthur glances at him in the mirror and then back at the projections. “I can hold my own.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Eames breathed, close to his ear. “Just thought you were due a fair warning.”

Arthur looked around at the pacing projections again. “I wonder what this says about you Mr Eames.”

It was almost flirty and the challenge in the reflection of Arthur’s eyes made him hard with sharp want. “I told you to drop the Mister,” he growled into Arthur’s ear. “And I thought it would be obvious what it says about me.”

“What?” Arthur’s voice is slightly breathless.

“How badly I want to fuck you,” and he took a step forward, plastering hi body against Arthur’s, letting his feel how hard he was.

Arthur jerked away from the contact, spinning to look at Eames. “You really don’t give up do you?”

“Not when I want something,” he admitted. “And certainly not when I know I’m wanted back. Like it or not darling, you’re breathless at my touch.”

And Arthur was gone before he had a chance to say anything further. He watched Arthur go with mounting frustration but before he had any chance to do anything about it his projections ripped the dream to pieces. 

When they woke up, Arthur couldn’t run away this time. There was a group debrief where each soldier had to analyse how they had done. Eames pretended to listen to their claims of near success until it was Arthur’s turn.

“It’s not doable, not for everyone,” he responded. “I don’t know why but I don’t think it’s something just anyone can do.”

Eames raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised for once.

“Just because you can’t do it…” one of the other soldiers started.

There was no hesitancy in Arthur now, no shyness or awkwardness. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said coolly. “It has nothing to do with my talent. But it is a waste of all our time if it is not a talent that can be learnt.”

There was then a discussion between the men, with many of them insisting that they would be able to do it. Arthur just sat there looking slightly annoyed at the men. He looked back at Eames.

“How did you learn? How long did it take you?”

“That’s classified,” Eames lied.

He could tell Arthur did not believe him. He simply shrugged as if he was dismissing them all and then rose and walked out of the warehouse. Ignoring the rest of the argument Eames got up and followed Arthur outside. 

He found him leaning up against the wall of the warehouse, smoking a cigarette. Eames just watched for a moment, enjoying seeing him in an unguarded moment. He was leaning with his back arched, his head tilted to the sun, his eyes shut. Every so often he raised his hand and took a long drag, before breathing it out slowly. It was hypnotising. He’d had enough of this waiting. If he wasn’t going to get the chance to take Arthur out to dinner than maybe he would get further with more directness.

He walked over quietly and took the cigarette out of Arthur’s hand. This time he managed to surprise him, he jumped and straightened against the wall, trying to put some space between them. Eames didn’t let him, simply moved closer, not touching but almost. He raised the cigarette and took a slow drag.

“Smoking’s bad for you,” Eames whispered lowly.

Arthur swallowed. “So?” he was trying to sound challenging but his voice was strained.

“So nothing,” Eames drawled and he dropped the cigarette to the floor before bringing their lips together. It was not a gentle kiss, he pushed his tongue between Arthur’s lips, kissing him deeply. Arthur moaned into his mouth, his whole body going slack against Eames as Eames pushed him into the wall. He slid a leg between Arthur’s, pressing against him, delighted to find him hard. He only got to enjoy it for a moment though before Arthur was twisting away from the kiss and pushing at his chest. He moved back, slightly breathless and looked at Arthur. He was very breathless, flushed, his hands now clenched into fists by his side. He looked like he was about to bolt and Eames moved quickly to trap him against the wall, a hand either side of his head.

He watched Arthur tense as if to fight.

“Do you still claim not to want me Arthur?”

“I never said I didn’t want you,” Arthur replied, desire still clear in his voice. “I just don’t want to go to dinner with you, or to…to go to bed with you.”

“Why not?” Eames asked, he could not understand why anyone would not simply take what they wanted when it was offered.

“I didn’t think I had to give a reason.”

“Fair enough,” Eames conceded, noting the way Arthur’s eyes had hardened with resolve. “But I warn you, I’m going to make you want me so badly you’ll be begging me to take you.”

Arthur did not reply to that, he probably did not trust his voice. Instead he just swallowed, looking almost unbearably young. 

Eames stood back, taking one last lingering look at Arthur before returning inside. Clearly this was going to take longer than he thought.

He sought out Macafferty and raised with him a new element of his training and then waited while he assembled the men to tell them. Eames watched Arthur closely as Macafferty addressed the group.

“In order for Mr Eames to assess potential he needs to dream with you all separately and assess each of your sub-conscious, he will be entering each of your dreams in turn over the next couple of days.”

And Eames had seen nerves on Arthur’s face plenty of times over the last couple of days, but never fear like this. What exactly was he hiding?

The first few men that day were boring of course, Eames got through them thinking of Arthur. He had deliberately scheduled his session with Arthur last and when the time finally came he almost felt a faint stirring of guilt at how very apprehensive Arthur was. His hands we shaking so much that he could not insert the needle into his arm and Eames leaned forward to take it from him, pausing to say. “Whatever it is that you are frightened I will discover, I will keep it between us,” and then he gently inserted the needle into the vein and watched as Arthur drifted off helplessly. He quickly attached himself in and followed Arthur into the dream.

As he awoke he looked around, the architect was always the same so the venue hadn’t changed. What had changed were the projections. Surrounding them were children, ranging from five to fifteen, some of them playing happily, some of them crying softly.

“I don’t understand,” Eames said looking around. He had expected Arthur’s projections to simply reveal his desire for Eames, he didn’t understand why there were children everywhere.

Arthur looked at him for a long moment. “I tell you what…I’ll ask you a question, if you answer mine honestly then I’ll answer one of yours.”

Eames looked intrigued and then nodded. “Alright.”

“Who trained you to forge?”

“No-one,” Eames replied quickly. “My turn.”

“But I want to know how…”

“Then you should be more careful about how you word your questions. Why are we surrounded by children.”

Arthur sighed. “Because I’m worried you’re going to work out my real age.”

“How old…”

“My turn,” Arthur snapped back. “How did you learn?”

“I didn’t,” Eames admitted. “I didn’t have to.”

“Because you could just always do it?”

Eames gave him the free question and nodded. “Yes. How old are you?”

“Eighteen.”

“But you’ve been training for three years?”

“Two years, I was fast tracked and I lied about my age to join.”

Eames nodded and then waited for Arthur to ask his next question.

“Can you really teach any of us how to forge?”

“No. Why did you lie so you could join the army?”

“Because I wanted to be able to dream again. My friend’s and I were hooked; I’d never known anything like it. And as I didn’t have any qualifications to rise high enough to get a private company to take me on I figured the military was the way to go.”

“And you’re worried about being caught?”

Game forgotten Arthur nodded. “They’ll kick me out, I’ll never dream again. I spend every day trying to seem older than I am; it’s even harder here because they’re all older again. I can’t ever let them see I’m frightened, that I don’t know as much as them.”

Eames nodded, he could understand that. He didn’t think he could do without dreaming now either. 

“Are you going to tell Macafferty?”

“I can’t now can I,” Eames said with a grin. “I mean if I let your secret out you’ll tell Macafferty he’s paying me to do a job I know I can’t do.”

Arthur smiled back and Eames actually felt a little weak at the sight. “Right. So we’ll keep each other’s secrets?”

“Agreed.”

Eames let Arthur alone for the rest of the day, until he had time to process the new information. When he returned to his hotel he ordered room service and thought about Arthur. A better man may have been put off by the fact that Arthur was only eighteen but Eames had never claimed to be a good man. It did give him cause to think though. Eighteen, two years in training, God knows what before that. He remembered wondering why someone as pretty as Arthur was not used to being hit on and realised that maybe Arthur had very little experience with men at all.

He thought back to himself at eighteen, how would he have felt if a man ten years older than him, bigger and stronger with a hell of a lot of experience had hit on him? Terrified probably. Oh he’d have probably have gone home with him but he would have been scared. And Arthur, Arthur who was so desperate not to show his age and inexperience at work, couldn’t afford to be scared. No wonder he had gone for outright rejection.

And then, in considering his own behaviour over the last few days, Eames had to admit that he had been fairly aggressive. He had pursued Arthur with everything he had and he could see how, if Arthur had as little experience as he was beginning to think, it may well have frightened him off.

If he wanted to seduce Arthur he was clearly going to need to take a more gentle approach.


	5. Chapter 5

When Eames arrived at the warehouse, forty minutes late today, for the first time Arthur greeted him from a distance with a nod. They had a connection now, Eames realised with a smile. They were joined by their mutual secrets. It gave him a wonderful feel of the two them against the world. (Rationally he knew that this was a little over dramatic but he liked the idea too much to let it go)

Today everyone was going to enter their own dreams, a few at a time and attempt to forge successfully. As Eames new the likely outcome of the day he didn’t concern himself too much with the details.

“Mr Eames,” Macafferty barked from across the room. 

Eames lazily changed direction from where he had been walking towards Arthur and instead sauntered up to Macafferty.

“What are the chances of these men becoming forgers?” Macafferty asked briskly, getting to the point as always. 

Eames considered his options. It was never good to tell this early on in a job that none of them had a chance, there was always the risk that that would mean they would call the job off early and only pay him half. Instead he always gave a vague impression that there was a few who showed potential if they could overcome their mental difficulties.

“There are a couple who show promise but they are mentally blocking themselves, they cannot let go of their idea of self. I think perhaps young Arthur is your most likely.”

He watched Macafferty carefully for his reaction and saw that he nodded like he had thought as much. These people had no idea about dreaming, not really.

“Perhaps if I could do some more one on one work with him then I might be able to teach him some of what I know?”

“Of course Mr Eames, take all the time you need.”

Eames nodded, professionally he hoped, and turned before he started to grin. He went straight to find Arthur who was sitting by himself, as normal, reading.

Eames dragged a seat to sit opposite him, instead of sitting down beside him like last time. He sat on the chair backwards and leaned on the edge of the chair. Arthur looked up to greet him, looking unthreatened by his current proximity Eames was pleased to note. 

“What do you think’s going to happen in the end?” he said with a grin, gesturing to the book.

Arthur shot him a withering look but there was amusement in his eyes. 

“I’ve told Macafferty that you’re my most promising student.”

“Why?” Arthur asked, looking more amused now.

“So we can dream together again, I don’t think either of us wants other people crawling around in our sub-conscious and now we know each other’s secrets we have nothing to fear.”

Arthur looked a mixture of embarrassed and pleased at that suggestion and Eames decided to take his victory and not push his luck. He left Arthur to his book and went to set up the PASIV. He waited until Arthur came to join him rather than calling him over.

“Are we going into your or my dream?”

“I thought you’d come into my dream to start with, I’ll show you some of most practised forges.”

Arthur nodded and sat down by Eames, holding out his arm. Without questioning why Arthur didn’t simply attach his own needle, Eames took his arm gently and inserted the needle, watching as Arthur avoided his eyes, squirming slightly under his hands. 

He watched as Arthur drifted off and admired him for a moment. He looked eighteen asleep, soft and vulnerable.

He plugged himself in and drifted off.

When he woke up they were sitting together as a restaurant table, in the middle of eating a nice dinner.

“Did you create this setting?” Arthur asked, looking around them.

Eames just grinned. “I had to get you to have dinner with me somehow.”

He looked around at his projections. They were all couples, of all different matchings of sex and age, all in various stages of staring into each other’s eyes or making out. It was clear what was on his mind, conscious and unconscious. 

Arthur had stopped looking around and was now studiously studying his plate. Eames could tell by the stiffness in his body that the boy was embarrassed.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly.

“It’s fine,” Arthur said quickly. “You can’t control your sub-conscious and it’s not like you’ve been hiding your interest.”

Eames watched him carefully and bit back the suggestive comment he wanted to make. “Thank you, I appreciate your tolerance.”

Arthur looked up then and met his gaze, seemingly more relaxed now.

“How is it you keep getting these military jobs?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you obviously never manage to train forgers, so why do they keep employing you? Why haven’t they realised it’s all a scam?”

Eames looked at Arthur for a moment and appreciated how smart he was. “My first training gig I got lucky, there was a natural forger and I taught them everything they could do with the talent. Ever since I’ve made it clear how rare it is to find someone trainable they’ve just waited hopefully for me to find another one. You can imagine how useful the talent would be for espionage.”

Arthur nodded. “They’re not going to believe it forever, sooner or later they’re going to realise.”

“Probably,” Eames agreed. “I’ll milk it for as long as I can.”

“So you’re just going to continue to take their money, knowing you won’t be doing the job?”

“Pretty much.”

“You’re a terrible person,” Arthur muttered, but his eyes were smiling.

Eames grinned. “You have no idea.”

“What will you do after they’ve worked it out?”

“Just have to do more of the dangerous jobs,” he said with a leer.

He could see the spark of interest in Arthur’s eyes. The beginnings of excitement. “What do you do the rest of the time?”

“I steal things from people,” he said shortly, noticing how, instead of looking disapproving Arthur’s eyes were dilating with arousal. “Ideas, information, secrets.”

“Do the military know?”

Eames shrugged. “I’m careful to keep my job separate from each other. I only do the military ones when I have other choice. Generally I find them dull and can’t wait for them to be over.”

“Generally?”

“This one’s turning out to be the exception,” he said smiling.

Arthur blushed slightly at that but he looked pleased.

“Your projections seem less hostile than last time,” Arthur said, studiously not looking around at them. 

Eames glanced around and saw that some of them very obviously now had their hands under each other’s clothes.

“We’re not doing anything out of the ordinary, as the dreamer I’m not threatened, we’re in keeping with the dream.”

Arthur nodded. “They’re not looking at me in the same way they were before.”

“How were they looking at you before?”

Arthur looked away at that, caught sight of one man who was now straddling the lap of another, both of them shirtless and quickly looked back at Eames, the blush now spreading down his neck.  
“Aggressively,” he answered finally. 

Eames didn’t know quite what to say to that. Arthur was right. In the first dream his sub-conscious had seemed to want to rip Arthur’s clothes off and throw him to the floor. Now his sub-conscious appeared to take want to take Arthur out for a romantic dinner and then slowly removed his clothes.

“I didn’t know you were eighteen,” Eames said by way of explanation.

Arthur looked confused. “I don’t…”

“You’re only eighteen, you were in training for two years before that. I don’t imagine that too many men have had the chance to take you out.”

Arthur looked back at him, looking for a moment like he wanted to run. He nodded sharply in agreement.

“Have you ever had sex with a man?” Eames decided it was better to be straight forward about it. 

Arthur choked on the sip of drink he had just taken and then shook his head, looking miserable at the admission. 

“If I had known that I would have pursued you a little less aggressively. I happen to be very gentle with virgins.”

Arthur was staring at him in stunned amazement. “I…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Eames asked. “When I was asking you why you weren’t interested?”

Arthur shrugged. “I was trying to pretend I was 21,” Arthur reminded him. “And I guess I thought you’d…make fun of me I guess.”

“I can assure you darling, nothing is further from my mind.” And on the table next to them the man had thrown his date down on the table and was making short work of the rest of his clothes.

Arthur shifted on his chair and Eames could see he was passing into very uncomfortable. Eames got out of his chair and walked around, taking Arthur by the hand and leading him through the restaurant into the drawing room next door.

“Want to see what I can forge?”

Arthur nodded, looking relieved at the change of conversation.

Eames changed with ease into an old woman and laughed at the amazement on Arthur’s face. Arthur looked over him and laughed. “I wish I was able to forge.”

Eames as the old lady smiled. “There are plenty of other roles for dreamers Arthur. Plenty of career paths outside of the military.”

Eames showed Arthur a few more of his forges before showing him his most beautiful blonde.

“Do you prefer me like this?” she purred. 

“No,” Arthur replied simply.

Eames switched to a business man, prim and proper. “How about now?”

Arthur shook his head. “I like you just fine.”

Eames grinned at that and shook off the forge, returning to himself. Arthur smiled back shyly. Eames considered himself good at reading people and was fairly certain that if he kissed Arthur now he’d get away with it. Because Arthur was so unlike anyone he’d ever met before he had a slight feeling of doubt that he found made it more exciting. He leant in and brought their mouths together softly. He raised one hand to gently stroke Arthur’s hair and kissed him softly. Just as Arthur kissed him back the dream collapsed around them.

Eames woke up and for the first time Arthur didn’t try and run away, he was still looking shy but he seemed happy.

Eames smiled at him and Arthur smiled back. They were interrupted by Macafferty who was looking at Arthur with undisguised enthusiasm, the poor man really thought that he had found his next Army Forger.

“So, how’s it going?”

“Good, very good. Arthur shows great promise,” Eames said brightly.

“Excellent, well done soldier,” Macafferty said with a nod to Arthur. 

Arthur turned to look at Eames, his eyes twinkling. “You’re a very bad man.”

“Just let me show you how bad,” Eames purred and for the first time Arthur didn’t look away.

“Maybe I don’t like bad men,” Arthur replied.

“You like me,” Eames was fairly certain of that.

“You think so?” Arthur was grinning now.

Eames nodded and desperately wished he could reach out and touch him, but settled for returning his grin. “Yeah, I think so.”

Arthur glanced around, perhaps to see who was looking. “Why don’t you take me out to dinner tonight and find out?”

Eames was surprised by Arthur’s sudden forwardness but pleasantly so. “You’re on.”

Arthur smiled and then quickly rose and walked away. Eames watched him go feeling slightly stunned. 

Eames had to spend some time with the others then before sitting down to eat lunch with Arthur. They chatted about inconsequential things and Eames managed to resist touching Arthur, although it was a close thing.

After lunch Eames worked with a couple of the soldiers and then went to look for Arthur. He found him in an office off to one side of the warehouse. He was reading again.

Eames leant on the door frame and raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you be working?”

Arthur didn’t bother to look up at him. “I’m not wasting my days pretending to practise something I know I’ll never be able to do.”

Eames laughed and walked across and perched on the desk opposite Arthur. It was maddening the way Arthur just kept reading without looking up at him. The kiss from the dream was still fresh in his mind and he desperately wanted to touch Arthur again.

When he didn’t reply Arthur finally looked up and obviously caught something of what Eames was thinking in his face because a faint flush spread across his cheeks. He placed his book on the side without taking his eyes off Eames’ face. “Are you okay?”

“You are an exercise in restraint,” Eames all but growled. 

He half expected Arthur to run but instead he rose from his chair looking determined and walked forward until he was standing right in front of him.

“Am I?”

Eames assumed this was as much invitation as he was going to get and leant forward and kissed Arthur, softly like he had in the dream. He raised his hand again and stroked through Arthur’s hair, scraping his fingers gently over his scalp. He managed to hold back from slamming Arthur back against the desk and kissing him like he wanted to. Arthur raised his hands to grip Eames’ arms before pulling back.

“You were right,” Arthur breathed against him mouth.

“Right about what?”

“I do like bad men.” He sounded breathless.

“Do you now?” Eames all but growled against his mouth, his hand tightening in Arthur’s hair.

“Kiss me like you did before.”

Eames made one final stab at restraint with “I got the impression that you hadn’t really liked it last time.”

Arthur let go of one of his arms and curled it around his waist, pressing their bodies together. “That was when I was worrying that you would discover my secrets, now you know them I don’t have to worry.”

And Eames could read the unspoken, now that you know I’ve not done this before I can trust that you won’t take it too far. Keeping this at the back of his mind, Eames brought their mouths together again. He gave Arthur exactly what he asked for, kissed him within an inch of his life, backing him up against the desk and then lowering him down onto it. Once down he cupped the back of Arthur’s neck firmly to hold his head in place where he wanted it and ran his free hand down Arthur’s body, not satisfied he ran pulled Arthur’s shirt from his trousers and ran his hand up, delighted to feel the soft skin under his fingers. He moved slightly so that he could align his rapidly hardening dick with Arthur’s. He kept himself aware of Arthur beneath him so that he could feel if he tensed and so could ease up. Arthur only moaned beneath him and clung to him tightly. 

It was only a couple of minutes before Arthur pulled away, breathing hard. Eames quickly eased up and lifted himself off Arthur’s body. Arthur didn’t look panicked, he looked wrecked. He was panting and his hands were gripping the edge of the table. Eames looked at Arthur’s heaving chest and straining body and realised that he was fairly close to the edge. Understandable really, Eames himself was pretty worked up. He could only imagine how he have felt at eighteen, reasonably untouched as Arthur was.

“You okay?” Eames asked, his voice slightly hoarse with arousal.

Arthur managed a shaky nod, sitting up slowly.

“Was that what you wanted?” Eames asked, smirking but serious underneath that.

Arthur laughed, although it was slightly shocked. “Yes…but probably wasn’t the wisest choice of venues.”

“Want to go and find the back of a jeep to hop into?”

And he could see Arthur actually consider it; he must be pretty desperate to come. “I think that would probably be the end of both our careers in the military.”

Eames grinned. “Nah, you’re their new prodigy forger.”

Arthur grinned back; he seemed to have managed to bring himself under some sort of control as he moved off the desk. “Well at the very least it would be embarrassing.”

Eames was long past being embarrassed by anything but he was feeling amiable so he just smiled in agreement. 

“Let’s just take a rain check till dinner tonight,” Arthur said walking again to stop in front of Eames.

“I’m going to give you five seconds to get out of here or then I’m going to have you laid out back against that desk,” Eames growled. Arthur looked for a moment like he was tempted but didn’t give Eames the chance to get past three before he was tempted. Instead he darted from the room leaving Eames with the need to take a moment to control himself before returning to the job at hand.

Dinner tonight was going to be fun.


	6. Chapter 6

They’d agreed that Eames would return to his hotel room and that Arthur would meet him there later. This had meant that Eames had time to change before dinner and was now waiting in the hotel foyer. He felt strangely nervous. He could not remember a time when he had last felt nervous before a date. He was good at dates, they always ended in fucking and he was good at fucking. He wondered what was different this time. It wasn’t that Arthur was a virgin, hell he was good at seducing virgins. It must have been just because it was Arthur. They had dreamt together, they knew each other’s secrets; somehow it seemed to make tonight matter more than anything had in a long time.

He watched Arthur pull up in a jeep and park and then walk up the path. Arthur looked more nervous than he felt. Eames would have to pull it together or else it would be a disaster and he didn’t want that for Arthur. 

When Arthur arrived he rose to greet him, smiling warmly and directed him to the hotel bar with a hand at the small of his back. Arthur made no attempt to shrug him off so Eames left the hand there, standing leaning in to Arthur at the bar. He ordered them both drinks and then looked at Arthur.

“You friend whose father had the dream equipment, was it really a lover?”

“No,” Arthur replied with a smile. “She was my best friend. She lived next door to me when I was little. When my parents died I went to live with her family.”

“So when you said she stole the equipment from her father?”

“I helped her,” Arthur confirmed.

“What happened?” There had to be more to the story. Arthur had no rich relative looking after him now, so something must have gone wrong.

“He found out we’d taken it. He was furious, we were fifteen when he found out, he was going to throw us both out. I took the blame, said I’d convinced her to do it.”

“He forgave her?”

Arthur nodded. “With the condition she never saw me again. He paid me enough money so that I would keep his carelessness a secret and I left. I hope that she’s been successful. I rented a cheap apartment for until I was sixteen, looking for ways to get back into dreaming. The only thing I could find was the military. So I bought fake papers and joined.”

Eames watched Arthur tell this story with no visible signs of bitterness or regret.

“That must have been very lonely at fifteen,” Eames said softly.

Arthur shrugged. “Sometimes, sometimes I long for solitude; it is not easy being surrounded by men like those all the time.”

“They are mindless drones, all of them,” Eames agreed “You are so much better than them. You should not be in the military.”

“It is the only way I can dream,” Arthur replied, no hint of any emotion.

“No, it isn’t,” Eames said softly. Arthur looked at him curiously and for a moment Eames almost blushed. He didn’t know why he had said that.

“Let’s eat,” Eames said brightly and taking Arthur’s hand he led him through to the restaurant. They ordered and Eames asked Arthur about books and music and anything that seemed safe and not personal. When he paused for another topic of conversation Arthur got their first.

“You know everything about me Mr Eames,” Arthur said, his eyes sharp. “Why don’t you tell me your story?”

“I told you it,” Eames replied, seemingly casual. “Got into dreaming through work. Now I steal things for a living.”

“What about your family?”

“My mother’s dead, I never knew my father. I have no other family. I’m all alone,” he said it quickly, to avoid sympathy.

“Like me,” Arthur said softly.

Eames just nodded, some strange emotion clutching at his chest. Just then the waiter came to clear their plates and to offer them dessert. 

Eames was about to answer when Arthur replied for him with a quick. “No thank you.”

The waiter nodded to them both and left them alone again. Eames turned back to Arthur.

“Why don’t you show me your hotel room?” he asked with a smile. False bravado maybe, Eames could see the nerves in the lines of his face, but Eames would make sure he didn’t regret it.

Eames smiled back and nodded, holding a hand out for Arthur to take. Arthur placed his hand in Eames’ and allowed himself to be led to the lift. Once the doors slid shut Eames backed Arthur up against the wall slowly, looking hungrily at him. This time as he leaned in Arthur met him half way and they were kissing again. Considering the few times they had kissed it already felt strangely familiar. He slid a hand down Arthur’s body to rest it against his dick and smiled when Arthur bucked into his hand in surprise. In Eames’ experience the quickest way to overcome nerves was with arousal. 

His room was only two floors up so it wasn’t long before Eames had to pull away and lead Arthur quickly down the corridor to his room. Eames fumbled with the door handle and Arthur actually smirked in response. Eames mock glared at him and pulled him inside. He pulled Arthur around sharply, making him laugh breathlessly and cling to him to keep his balance and then walked him back towards the bed.

“I hope it should go unsaid, but just to be sure, at any point you’re not comfortably just tell me to stop. I don’t have to fuck you tonight, there are plenty of other lovely things we can do.”

Arthur nodded his agreement to this, apparently not trusting his voice. 

Eames pushed him gently against the bed, his own arousal skyrocketing at the sight of Arthur lain out against his sheets. Eames crawled onto the bed and lay down next to him. He ran down his body, and then placed it over his heart, feeling how fast his heart was beating. He tilted Arthur’s face to look at him and noted how dilated his pupils were. It wouldn’t take much more to make him come.

He stroked a hand across Arthur’s forehead, pushing his fringe back and smoothing down the bridge of his nose. Entranced by the soft skin under his fingers Eames couldn’t help take a moment just to admire him. He ran his thumb lower and ran it across those beautiful lips, persuading them to open on a gasp. Eames slid his thumb inside and felt his dick twitch at the thought of that mouth around him. Before he could act on that temptation he ran his hand back down Arthur’s body to start unbuttoning his trousers. 

As he flicked open the button one handed Arthur whimpered and involuntarily bucked up into his hand. Eames watched as Arthur’s hand curled into the sheets, obviously straining for control. He slid his hand into Arthur’s trousers and underwear and curled it around him. Arthur arched and that and moaned, shaking with the effort to hold back now.

Eames leant down and put his mouth next to Arthur’s mouth. “It’s alright darling, just let do. Let me make you come, take the edge off. You’ll be able to get it up again in no time.”

Arthur made no protest, just whimpered in response, which Eames took as consent and began to gently stroke. It took less than 30 seconds before Eames felt Arthur pulse and come over his fingers. Eames grinned, more hunger than amusement, at the sight of Arthur arched off the bed, head thrown back.

As he lowered himself back down and titled his head to look at Eames, Arthur looked slightly blown away. Very possibly the first orgasm he’d ever had with another person. Eames leant back down next to him and slid his now sticky fingers from Arthur’s clothes. Holding Arthur’s gaze, he raised his hand and slowly licked Arthur’s come of his fingers. Arthur went comically wide eyed at the sight and seemed to have no idea what to say.

Eames grinned again and then leant down to capture Arthur’s mouth again, not wanting to give Arthur a chance to grow self-conscious. Arthur kissed him back, letting go of the sheets to run his hands along Eames’ back. Raising himself up slightly, Eames reached down and began unbuttoning Arthur’s shirt. When done he sat up and pulled Arthur with him, sliding his shirt off his shoulders. Eames eyes drifted down Arthur’s body, lean but defined from his training, would probably build up more if he stayed in the army. He moved lower and encouraged Arthur to lift up so he could slide his trousers over his hips. He moved down Arthur’s body to untie his boots, pulling them off and then his socks, trousers and underwear. He looked at Arthur with frank appreciation and could see his unease at being displayed. When Arthur visibly shivered he quickly moved back up his body and kissed him again. 

He was pleased to feel Arthur’s hands come up and start unbuttoning his shirt, untucking it from his trousers. Obviously feeling brave Arthur moved on to unbuttoning Eames’ trousers, causing Eames to moan as he brushed against his dick. Even through material it was powerful. Eames quickly stood and made quick work of his own shoes and trousers. He watched as Arthur smirked when he saw that Eames wasn’t wearing any underwear. His expression froze, however, when he saw Eames’ hard dick. Perhaps the size of it, Eames’ ego liked to think so, or perhaps just the reality of what they were doing coming home.

Eames crawled once more onto the bed and this time straddled Arthur’s hips, leaning down and kissing him again, pressing his hard dick against Arthur’s slowly reawakening one. They kissed for a few minutes, passionate and intense before Eames pulled away to kiss down Arthur’s neck. He wanted to kiss every inch of his skin, know every part of him. He moved down his body slowly, categorising what made him moan, what made him twitch, determined to remember them. When he reached Arthur’s dick it was already half hard and when he closed his mouth around it, it hardened almost immediately. 

Within a couple of minutes Arthur was moaning again and thrusting off the bed. Eames held his hips down against the bed and continued to suck him gently. When he pulled off they were both leaking and desperate. Eames knew he no longer had the patience to fuck Arthur the way he deserved for a first time so he moved back up his body and pressed their dick’s together again. He thrust gently and echoed the moan Arthur released and they moved together. Looking down at Arthur’s beautiful face, feeling his body under his, Eames was amazed at how perfectly satisfying this was. It didn’t take long before Arthur was coming against him. The sight on Arthur shaking through his second orgasm was enough to send Eames over the edge. He just managed to hold his weight long enough to move to the side of Arthur and collapse next to him, one hand settling possessively over his waist.

He turned to look at Arthur, who was obviously completely exhausted, and couldn’t help but reach up and touch his face again. Arthur turned his head to meet his gaze, looking uncertain again. And Eames found he couldn’t bear that, he moved forward and kissed Arthur softly. 

“Let me get something to clean us up,” Eames murmured and forced himself to climb out of bed and return with a wet cloth. He washed Arthur down before himself, threw the towel in the direction of the bathroom and then pulled Arthur up long enough to pull back the sheets. He climbed into the bed and held out a hand to Arthur. Arthur looked back at him, wary.

“You want me to stay?” 

Eames nodded. “We can just drive in together tomorrow; don’t worry about Macafferty, he pretty much gave me permission to do whatever I liked with you as long as you could forge at the end of it.”

This made Arthur smiled and he climbed back onto the bed and let Eames pull him against his body. Eames pulled the sheets over them and settled Arthur in the crook of his arm, one hand curling possessively in his hair. He told himself that the only reason he had let Arthur stay was because it was hardly nice to throw a virgin out of bed his first time and it was hardly likely to get him laid a second time. As Arthur fell asleep against him he couldn’t help the creeping doubt that maybe that wasn’t all it was.


	7. Chapter 7

Eames woke up to the pleasant feel of a warm body curled against his. He looked down and smiled at the sight of Arthur sleeping peacefully against him. Well, as he looked down his body, peaceful in some respects. Arthur, as expected at eighteen, was hard against his leg. He enjoyed the moment for a while, before leaning down to kiss Arthur’s shoulder gently to wake him up. He didn’t care how late they were in for work but he knew Arthur would object and he wanted them to have some fun before they left. 

Arthur awoke with a breathless sigh, starting slightly until he realised where he was. He looked up at Eames before blushing and trying to pull away. Obviously naked and hard against someone in the morning was slightly more embarrassing then it had been last night. Eames tightened his grip and sunk his teeth gently into Arthur’s shoulder, thrilling at the little moan it caused.

“We need a shower before work,” he murmured against Arthur’s skin, licking over where he was just bitten. 

Arthur murmured his agreement softly but made no moves to get up. Eames chuckled gently before pulling him from the bed and leading him to the bathroom. It had been a long time since Eames had been worried about being naked in front of anyone and he almost missed the way Arthur had wrapped his arms around his own body and was looking increasingly uncomfortable. Eames reached in and turned the shower on, letting it heat up for a moment, before pulling Arthur back against his body. Arthur had never woken up with anyone before, he realised with a possessive thrill. Never taken a shower with anyone. Never walked around naked in front of anyone before. And Eames had a sudden, desperate desire to make sure Arthur had all his firsts with him. 

In response to this possessive stirring Eames gripped Arthur’s arms, perhaps a little too tightly and lifted him into the shower. The shock showed on Arthur’s face and he stumbled slightly in the shower before Eames caught him, steadied him and kissed him. As the steam filled the shower, Arthur seemed to get his confidence back and began to kiss him back, running his hands over Eames’ skin, pausing to trace the lines of his tattoos. 

“Only bad men have tattoos,” Arthur whispered against Eames mouth.

“Absolutely darling,” Eames agreed, reaching for the soap and gently cleaning across Arthur’s skin. He smoothed down to grip his dick and a few soapy strokes had Arthur coming into the water with a moan.

When Arthur raised his head to meet Eames’ gaze there was a determination in his eyes that he hadn’t seen before. And before he had time to process what was happening Arthur had sunk to his knees.

Eames looked down at him in mild amazement and almost came there and then as Arthur looked back up at him.

“You’ll have to tell me if I do something wrong,” Arthur said, biting his lip.

“Sweetheart, you’re not going to have to do much more than touch me,” Eames admitted.

He watched as Arthur lent forward and took his slowly into his mouth. Gently Arthur began to suck and Eames moaned and reached down to gently thread his fingers through Arthur’s hair, helping him with the rhythm. When he knew he was about to come, he pulled Arthur back and over, coming into the water as Arthur had before him. He pulled him to his feet and kissed him hard.

They kissed between washing and eventually made it out of the shower, Eames pleased to see that Arthur seemed more comfortable naked now. They dressed quickly and when Arthur saw what the time was insisted that they leave without breakfast and make their way to the base.

“Do you care if people know we spent last night together?” Eames asked, as they pulled up to the warehouse.

“No,” Arthur replied, but he sounded hesitant.

“But?”

“But I don’t want to flaunt it, I am at work.”

Eames grinned. “So I can’t grab your ass during the briefings?”

Arthur laughed and reached over to swat his arm. Eames couldn’t remember the last time he felt this happy. 

Macafferty greeted them with a stony expression of non-emotion while the other soldiers nudged each other and winked at Arthur. It all seemed good natured though so Eames wasn’t worried. Arthur did not respond to the, simply took his seat and waited for Macafferty to talk.

If Eames had thought that the night before with Arthur would have made being around him easier he was sadly mistaken. It was nice that Arthur seemed to have dropped his guard around him and when they were alone actually flirted back with him but he was constantly aware of Arthur’s nearness to him. Knowing that Arthur welcomed his touch made it virtually impossible not to do so. Eames didn’t care about his reputation, didn’t care about the job and certainly didn’t care what any of the other soldiers though so he found it very difficult to maintain the motivation not to drag Arthur off into one of the side offices and have his wicked way with him. 

At lunch he found Arthur sitting and reading pride and prejudice as always. Eames sat down next to him and placed a hand on his knee, sliding it gently up to his thigh and back down again. Arthur smiled at him in greeting and stuttered a breath as the hand crept higher.

“How are the guys being about last night?” Eames was concerned that Arthur might have suffered for it when he was alone.

Arthur shrugged. “I actually think they like me more now, it’s made them see me as human somehow I think.”

God Eames wanted to kiss him. “Let’s go outside for a cigarette.”

He was ready with amo to persuade Arthur but it turned out to be completely unnecessary. Arthur nodded eagerly and was out of his seat before Eames was out of his. Eames stood and followed him out. As soon as they were out in the sunshine Arthur turned and kissed him, wrapping his arms around his neck.

It was the first time Arthur had initiated a kiss and Eames wrapped an arm around his waist and kissed him back but other than that let Arthur take the lead. They made out like teenagers, there was no way it could go anywhere and Eames did not care in the slightest. Eames wished they could spend the whole day out there but reluctantly they had to go back in.

Because of his lie to Macafferty the other day, Eames was allowed to spend the afternoon working one-on-one with Arthur again. It seemed like Macafferty was happy for Eames to focus on his one bit of talent. 

“Let’s go into your dream this time,” Eames suggested casually, hooking them both up appropriately.

Arthur didn’t protest but did look slightly nervous still.

When Eames woke up they were sitting on what looked like the Great Wall of China.

“Are we on the Great Wall of China?”

Arthur nodded with a shrug. “I’ve always wanted to go.”

And for one crazy moment Eames almost said he’d take him. He shook off the feeling before he could say it and looked around for Arthur’s projections. They were tourists mainly, of all ages this time, walking around and looking at the wall. They seemed a lot less frightened than they had last time. In fact whenever they saw Eames they smiled appreciatively. Eames grinned back. When Arthur saw he rolled his eyes and knocked his arm. 

“Your sub-conscious likes me,” Eames said with a grin.

“Apparently so,” Arthur agreed, not looking too concerned about it. “When are you going to tell Macafferty that I can't actually forge?”

Eames shrugged. “On my last day. He’ll understand, they always do.”

“In three days?”

Arthur wasn’t looking him, was staring out at China. “Yeah,” he agreed.

There was something tight in his chest he didn’t like. He quickly changed the subject.

“You ever had sex in a dream?” 

Arthur turned back to look at him, mouth open with surprise. “We’re at work.”

“They’ll have no idea what happens in the dream,” Eames said, dropping his voice low and raising a hand to curl around Arthur’s throat, softly stroking at his pulse point. “We’re all alone here.”

Arthur was interested, Eames could tell. He moved so he was kneeling in front of Arthur and pushed him back so he was learning back against the wall, then slowly unbuttoned his trousers. Arthur was already getting hard and it only took one swipe of Eames’ tongue to have him hard. This time Eames went at him hard, sucking hard and bobbing up and down quickly. Arthur had his hands curled into Eames’ hair and was moaning almost continually. He came with a moan that sounded an awful lot like Eames’ name. Eames pulled up looking smug as the dream collapsed around them. 

When he woke up it was to see Arthur glaring at him, Eames smiled back sweetly.

Arthur looked around him quickly to check no one was in the vicinity. “You’re a bastard, you know that?”

“I am?” Eames said, his voice mock innocent.

“I came in my trousers, at work!”

“Did you?”

“You knew I would, right?”

Eames grinned. “I did.”

“Any reason why you didn’t warn me?” Arthur sounded like he desperately wanted to be annoyed but couldn’t quite manage it.

“I thought it might put you off,” Eames said with a grin. It was a fake grin though because what he was really thinking was I didn’t want you to have sex with someone else first in a dream.

Arthur rolled his eyes and went to stand up, probably to storm off and clean himself up. Eames caught his arm and held him still for a moment.

“Have dinner with me tonight?”

“I should say no just to spite you,” Arthur said, before trying to pull him arm back. 

Eames jerked it back and pulled Arthur down. “Is that a yes?” he growled.

Arthur looked breathless again. “That’s a yes.”


	8. Chapter 8

This time they didn’t worry about leaving a time difference, they just left together. It was clear no one cared anyway. They stopped on the way to pick up a spare set of clothes for Arthur and then went back to the hotel together. They ordered room service and ate it, laughing about the other eleven soldiers and Macafferty. It was easy and comfortable and Eames couldn’t remember when he last felt so relaxed. They ate chocolate cake for dessert and once Arthur was done Eames made quick work of moving the empty plates from the bed and the starting pulling off his shirt. Arthur followed suit and removed his clothes.

When they were both naked Eames walked back to the bed and pulled Arthur towards him, rolling Arthur on top of him. Eames didn’t think he would ever get enough of kissing Arthur. He ran his hands down Arthur’s back and over his arse, exploring skin he hadn’t given enough attention to as yet. He almost whimpered when Arthur pulled back.

“I want you to fuck me tonight,” and Eames could tell that Arthur was not comfortable asking for it and didn’t want to give one moment of feeling exposed. He switched their positions, rolling Arthur beneath him and kissing him hard.

“You got it.”

Eames moved away from the bed and searched through his luggage till he found the lube and then moved back onto the bed. “You can change your mind at any point,” Eames said softly.

Arthur nodded and swallowed, nervous clearly despite the fact he wanted this. Eames moved back onto the bed and kissed him gently until Arthur pulled away. “Eames,” he breathed. “I know you’re trying to be nice but the longer it drags on, the more nervous I’m going to get. Could we move this along please?”

“Sure thing darling,” Eames breathed. And he gently nudged Arthur’s legs apart, poured some lube onto his fingers and slid one around Arthur’s hole, feeling Arthur twitch beneath him.

“Did you ever do this to yourself?” he asked, keeping his voice low, deliberately dirty. A distraction mainly from his fingers.

It worked. Arthur blushed at the implication but relaxed enough for Eames to slide a finger inside. Arthur made a breathless little sound at the contact.

“Did you?” Eames repeated as he began to move his finger slowly.

“A couple of times,” Arthur admitted, clearly reluctantly.

“How many fingers?” Eames continued, as he moved his finger deeper.

“Two,” a moan more than a word.

“Then this won’t be a problem for you,” Eames replied, sliding another finger in beside the first.

“Your fingers are bigger than mine,” Arthur replied. And his body was tight around Eames’ fingers.

“True,” Eames agreed, and kept his fingers still while Arthur’s body adapted to the intrusion. It only took a couple of moments and then Eames was able to move his fingers, thrusting gently.

“You ever find your prostrate?” 

Arthur moaned at that and shook his head.

Eames grinned and began to curl his fingers, searching slowly. When he found it Arthur practically arched off the bed, hands reaching for Eames. Keeping his fingers steady, Eames slid back up his body and kissed him, curling his fingers over and over until Arthur was gasping into his mouth.

“Eames…” Arthur moaned.

“Yes darling?”

“Please, I don’t want to come like this,” Arthur said between panting.

“Alright darling,” Eames whispered back, biting back a moan of his own. 

With one last kiss he pulled away and moved Arthur’s legs to rest on his shoulders. He considered turning Arthur over but he wanted to see Arthur’s face, to memorise every moment of his first time. He reached down and positioned himself, his hand trembling slightly. He slid in slowly, watching Arthur’s face tense, lines of pain creasing his forehead. When he was buried as far as he could go, he paused to give Arthur a chance to adjust. He turned his head and kissed down Arthur’s leg, licking under the crease behind his knee. Arthur’s leg twitched and Eames could feel him slowly relax around him.

When he felt like Arthur was as relaxed as he was going to be get Eames pulled out gently, watching Arthur’s face carefully as he thrust back it. The creases on his forehead were almost gone and Eames could see no obvious sign of pain in Arthur’s body and began to thrust in earnest, changing the angle of his thrusts until he hit Arthur’s prostate. Arthur moaned and his dick, which had softened slightly with the penetration, quickly returned to rock hard. Eames smiled down at Arthur, his chest feeling like it was going to burst at the sight of Arthur gazing up at him so trustingly. Knowing he was not going to last long, he reached down and gently gripped Arthur’s cock, stroking him in time with his thrusts. When Arthur came it was with a surprise gasp, his whole body shuddering with it. Arthur’s body clenched around Eames and Eames managed to still while Arthur rode it out and relaxed again. Eames gave in and thrust a few more times, probably harder than he should have and then came into Arthur’s willing body.

This time he was unable to hold his body and he collapsed on top of Arthur panting, hearing him huff with the impact beneath him. All he could do for a moment was just lie on top of Arthur, regardless of the fact that he knew he must be squashing him. Arthur allowed it for a moment before squirming underneath him and pushing him to the side. Eames went with and rolled off Arthur, bringing Arthur with him so they were lying facing each other. Eames slid a leg between Arthur’s and wrapped his arms around him so they were curled together, intertwined on the bed. They fell asleep like it.

When Eames woke up this time Arthur was already awake.

“Morning darling,” Eames said with a smile. “Shower?”

Arthur smiled and nodded. They climbed out of bed together and went into the bathroom, Arthur seemingly perfectly at ease this morning being naked in front of Eames. They climbed into the hot shower and Arthur pressed himself up against Eames, kissing over his tattoos. Eames stroked a hand into his hair and scratched gently at Arthur’s neck. They spent a good half an hour just kissing and stroking, gently jerking each over off.

As they got dressed Eames watched Arthur carefully. “Are you okay?”

Arthur looked back at him over his shoulder as he did up his trousers. “I’m great.”

“Not too sore?”

Arthur blushed at that and turned away again. “I’m fine.”

Eames moved over to him and slid his arms around his waist from behind. “I hope you never stop blushing, you’re just too beautiful. Arthur turned in his arms and kissed him, smiling softly up at him.

“Let’s go,” Arthur said softly as he pulled away.

This day it was even harder to keep his hands off Arthur. He spent the whole morning in his personal space, aware he was crowding him but unable to thought. Two more days and he’d be gone and then Arthur would find someone else, someone else to watch him discover himself. He growled against Arthur’s ear, who actually jumped and then turned around to find Eames practically on top of him.

Eames opened his mouth to apologise but Arthur spoke first. “Come with me,” he said quietly and led Eames back to the office that Eames was fast starting to think of as their office.

Once they reached it Arthur shut the door behind them and regarded Eames with an emotion Eames couldn’t work out.

“I thought that maybe you’d have…been done with me or something now that we’d fucked.”

“Why?” Eames breathed, as if he hadn’t only ever had a run of one night stands.

“I thought that maybe you were just interested in being my first?”

And Eames first instinct was unreasonable anger but he caught the fear in Arthur’s eyes in time. Arthur who had no experience with anything like this was trying not to be clingy, trying not to presume. Eames had crossed to him without making a conscious decision and pulled him into his arms, gripping his arms far too tightly. He actually shook him slightly.

“I want to be your first everything. I want to be the first man who you ride, I want to be the first man to make you come with just my fingers inside you, I want to be the first man you let tie you to the bed, I want to be the first men who edges you to the point where you think you can’t stand it and are reduced to helpless begging,” Arthur was opened mouthed now in amazement, blushing down to his neck at the image. “I want to be the first man who fucks you in public, the first man who shags you on an aeroplane; I don’t want anyone to see anything of you that I haven’t.”

The outpouring of emotion left him feeling slightly shell shocked and as he calmed down he became aware that he held a very young, stunned boy in his arms who probably had not imagined half the things Eames had just told him he wanted to do with him.

“Oh,” Arthur breathed softly. “That’s a lot to get into two days and I’m not totally sure that I want to do everything you just said…”

Eames sighed and stroked a hand across Arthur’s face. “I’m sorry, that was pretty explicit.”

Arthur managed a smile. “Yes it was, but I’m getting used to it.”

Eames smiled back, even though for some reason smiling was the last thing he felt like. Arthur looked at him concerned and Eames kissed him to distract him and then had to leave him in the office before he said something ridiculous.

Macafferty was waiting for him outside. “Can you train him? Is he still making progress?”

“I’m not sure,” Eames replied, he only had two days, better start letting him down gently so tomorrow as he was leaving with the news that none of the recruits were going to be forgers. “I’ll take him under one more time and we’ll see how it goes.”

Macafferty nodded, looking pathetically hopeful still. Eames was so sick of the military, he was never coming back.

This time Eames brought Arthur into his dream. They were back at the Great Wall of China. Arthur looked around, confused. “Why are we here?”

Eames looked back at him, beautiful in the fading light. “I don’t know,” he lied. 

Arthur narrowed his eyes at him and didn’t say anything.

Eames looked away and then looked back at Arthur. “All those dirty things I said to you?”

“Yes?” Arthur said warily. 

“That’s not all I want. I want to be the first man you walk along The Great Wall of China with,” Eames said with a sigh. “I want to be the first man you do everything with.”

Arthur looked stunned. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying leave with me tomorrow, come with me.”

“I…I can’t leave the military, my service isn’t up.”

“I know how to make people disappear. They’ll never find us,” Eames said desperately, now he had raised it he couldn’t let it go. Wasn’t sure there was any way he could leave Arthur tomorrow.

“And what will I do?”

“Dream with me,” Eames said softly. “I’ll teach you everything I know; we’ll be the best team the world’s ever known.”

Arthur laughed and for a moment Eames thought he was being laughed at, but then Arthur was crossing the distance to him and kissing him, arms wrapped around his neck. He’d obviously been laughing with happiness. He pulled away and looked into Eames’ eyes. “Okay, Mr Eames, I’ll come with you.”


	9. Chapter 9

In the end it was easy. They didn’t wait for the end of Eames’ contract. They didn’t wait to find out if the military were prepared to release Arthur from his service time (unlikely). They simply left together that night as normal to jovial winks and comments. On the way to the hotel they picked up Arthur’s few meagre possessions. When they reached the hotel they packed up Eames stuff and stole away in the night.

They got into Eames’ car and drove, Eames assuring Arthur that he had passports and papers under control. Arthur believed him, he wasn’t exactly sure what it was Eames’ did but he seemed pretty sure he knew enough about the basic elements of being a criminal to get them away and keep them hidden. Eames looked across at him. He’d fallen asleep, head resting against the window. He’d never be able to work for the military again, that much was certain. He didn’t care. He wondered for a moment if this was crazy, if he was crazy. He’d only known Arthur for a few days and now he had whisked him away from his entire life, had in effect taken responsibility for him. The pleasure he felt at this idea made him feel that maybe, just maybe this was the best decision he had ever made.


End file.
